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The Charm of an Old Tradition: The Cordel Literature in Brazil



Author(s)

Marcus Baccega

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DOI:10.17265/2159-550X/2026.05.002

Federal University of Maranhão, São Luís Do Maranhão, Brazil

This communication aims at presenting and analyzing the chapbooks’ tradition in the Northeastern part of Brazil. The so-called cordel literature stands for an inveterate written tradition pertaining to this part of Brazil, which was the first structured focus of Potuguese settlement in the Southern region of the American continent. The cordel chapbooks deal with a large amount of topics and themes, ranging from politics to religious contents. For all it seems that this is a Brazilian invention; the chapbooks’ tradition dates back to late Middle Ages in Europe, specially Portugal, Castille, France, the Holy Roman Empire, and even England. This old tradition has already vanished in Europe, yet continues to take place in countries such as Brazil and Mexico (pliegos sueltos). Rather than just a medieval bequest, we propose that the chapbooks’ popular literature in Brazil is a sort of late echo from the chevaleresque romances from High Middle Ages (11th-13th centuries), henceforth a sort of cultural translation of our medieval background in the scope of an interlarded culture such as the Brazilian one. For such purpose, we draw upon Homi Bhabha’s theory of cultural translation and on Luís Weckmann’s idea of a medieval heritage in Brazil and Mexico.

cordel, Middle Ages, cultural tradition

Marcus Baccega. (2026). The Charm of an Old Tradition: The Cordel Literature in Brazil. History Research, May 2026, Vol. 8, No. 5,  245-256.